The present invention relates to terrariums in general, and more particularly to such terrariums which can be used for accommodating potted plants, boxes with seedlings and similar objects therein.
It is well known that, under certain circumstances, it is desired or necessary to keep plants, and sometimes even potted plants, in a controlled environment. Thus, for instance, some plants require for their proper growth and even survival to be surrounded by air which has either a very high or a very low moisture content. Thus, such plants, when grown outside of their natural habitat, are usually kept in controlled-climate structures, such as hot houses, especially when the natural climate at the location where the particular plant is being grown is, as a rule, less humid and/or less warm than what is required by the respective plant. Of course, a hot house is a rather expensive installation in terms of construction costs as well as operating expenses so that the erection and maintenance of such a structure is economically sound only on a commercial basis.
On the other hand, there is also known the currently spreading practice of keeping plants in terrariums of different sizes and shapes. While these terrariums protect, at least to some extent, the plants accommodated therein from adverse environmental influences, they are usually very bulky, difficult to handle, and assume--even at times when they are not being used for growing plants therein--a considerable amount of space, which may be at a premium. Also, such conventional terrariums do not offer protection from all adverse effects of the environment, particularly of the ambient air.
It has also been established that, when plants, even those which do not have to be surrounded by highly humid air, are left unattended and especially without watering, for an extended period of time, the moisture content of the soil surrounding the roots of the plants will become depleted due to the evaporation of water from the leaves into the ambient atmosphere. Thus, for instance, when the owner of the plant leaves for a vacation or a business trip, he or she has to make provisions for someone else to periodically water the plants. This may become very cumbersome and inconvenient both for the owner and for the person entrusted with the care for the plants since, on the one hand, it entails the need to give the caretaker access to the premises where the plant is being kept and, on the other hand, the person doing a favor to the owner may be unduly burdened by making periodic visits to the premises. To alleviate these problems, there have already been developed automatic watering devices; however, it has been established that these devices, which may be quite expensive, are not yet fully reliable and leave much to be desired in other respects too.
Another problem encountered in the past was that, under certain circumstances, the plants may become diseased or be attacked by injurious insects, larvae, fungi or the like. Under these circumstances, it is usually necessary to treat the affected plants with chemicals which, in many instances, may be harmful to the person treating the plants. Such chemicals may then linger in the ambient air, in some instances, even for days, thus increasing the danger of harmful effects on the people breathing the air surrounding the plant. Heretofore, it was impossible or very difficult to avoid the above-mentioned problems.